Machiavellian electoral schemes of a desperate government

Now, it is clear President John Dramani Mahama and his governing National Democratic Congress have lost complete touch with governance, and what matters to them most is how to stay in power, even when all signs indicate that Ghanaians are fed up with them and are in dire need for change.

But with elections happening in some few months, and defeat staring in the face, President Mahama and his NDC are now employing all despicable means to remain in power, even though they know the people have already rejected them.

Government announced a scrapping of the allowances paid to trainee teachers and nurses, claiming that the aim was to remove restrictions on admission into nursing training colleges and colleges of education. But now, this same government says it is restoring the allowances to trainee nurses.

So, what has changed now? Is the government no longer interested in giving more students the opportunity to gain admission?

However, we at the Daily Statesman are glad that the Ghanaian voter has become discerning now and can decipher a government that wants to put in place short-term dubious schemes just for electoral advantage from a government that is ready to implement policies that would have enduring positive impact on the lives of the people.

The announcement by Government last Thursday to pay an amount of GHc150 monthly to trainee nurses as allowance is a real insult to the intelligence of the students, and we welcome their decision to reject the bait.

This Mahama-led government has shown it is bereft of ideas; it only copies ideas of the New Patriotic Party, modifies it and end up implementing it woefully.

The NPP has consistently stated that it is going to restore allowances to teachers and nurses in training if it wins the upcoming elections.

Strangely, elements in the NDC that has the penchant of downplaying any policy from the NPP raved and ranted that restoring allowances would be unsustainable, but here they are going back on their own words.

But, President Mahama and his functionaries can be assured that Ghanaians are now wide awake and know they are not dealing with them in sincerity and in truth, but only employing deceit, lies and propaganda as their major tool to get a renewal of mandate.

The decision to pay allowances to the trainee nurses is just the beginning of many deceitful schemes to come in the months leading up to the elections.

The Mahama-led government that is associated with the worst ever reckless and criminal election year spending, in 2012, will certainly come up with many Machiavellian schemes, in a desperate attempt at vote buying.

But Ghanaians should not forget the fact that the worse mishap we can ever bring upon ourselves is to allow a failed, incompetent and corrupt government to use our own resources to buy our votes, to stay in power and perpetuate the gross economic mismanagement, with its excruciating hardships.